Three Survivors Found In Nepal As Quake Toll Reaches 7,056; More Aftershocks Felt

The UN urged Nepal to relax customs controls which it says are holding up deliveries of aid to the survivors. Nepal had a duty to provide faster customs clearance for relief supplies, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said.

Amos, and the European Union's Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides called on Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to support the country in this time of crisis.

"A disaster of such magnitude would test the capacities of any government in the world," said Stylianides.

Meanwhile, fresh aftershocks, including one measuring 4.3 on the Richter Scale, kept people on edge as they rushed for open spaces in panic. Officials said an entire village was carried away by the avalanche and many more people are believed to have died.

The country's only main airport the Tribhuvan International Airport has been closed for large aircraft due to runway damage that forced authorities to take such a step in the middle of the calamity.

The runway was built to handle only medium-size jetliners, not the large military and cargo planes that have been flying emergency supplies to Nepal, said manager of the airport Birendra Shrestha. Foreign help has poured in the country that has seen widespread destruction due to the temblor that flattened buildings and uprooted electric poles and trees.

Twelve stranded trekkers, including an Indian national, were rescued today from Makalu Base Camp in eastern Nepal and flown to Kathmandu.

Domestic and international emergency response teams are racing against time and odds to rush in medical aid to people in worst-affected areas of the quake-hit country, including through flying in mobile clinics to far-flung villages and providing in psychological support to traumatised victims of the tragedy.

Nepal lifted import taxes on tarpaulins and tents on Friday but home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said all goods arriving from abroad had to be inspected.

Remote mountainous areas in the country have suffered "almost total devastation" from the powerful quake, aid agencies have warned, even as relief slowly began to reach far-flung regions. International humanitarian bodies have called for greater urgency in relief efforts that have been hampered due to dozens of tremors and bad weather.

There are estimates that up to 40,000 homes in Sindupalchowk alone have been destroyed, the International Federation of Red Cross said in a statement.

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